As one takes a right from Ennore Express Road towards Kasimedu Fish Market, it is easy to spot a group of motorised fish carts parked with a bunch of their owners indulging in friendly banter.
If one approaches and starts a conversation with them about their vehicles, however, they will become a little wary, for the vehicles on which their livelihoods depend are legally banned from plying on the city’s roads.
Colloquially called the meen baadi vandi, the motorised fish carts are a great example of jugaad. They evolved from cycle rickshaws through continuous engineering alterations in the smaller workshops of north Madras over the years to primarily meet the needs of the fishing community in transporting cargo.
